


that which is lost to time.

by karasunosuke



Category: InuYasha - A Feudal Fairy Tale
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Canon Compliant, Everyone Is Gay, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Modern Era, Post-Canon, Post-InuYasha, Queer Themes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-11
Updated: 2018-07-11
Packaged: 2019-06-09 00:39:10
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,751
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15255573
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/karasunosuke/pseuds/karasunosuke
Summary: born to the feudal era but adopted by modern times, a half-breed and a wolf do what they can to fill their emptied hearts.





	that which is lost to time.

“So.”

Five hundred years, give or take a couple distant encounters. Five hundred years, the rise and fall of demons, the birth of modern civilization, the globalization of the world.

He’d lived through all of that. He’d outlived the death of his friends’ grandchildren, and their grandchildren after that.

All of it had brought Inuyasha to that moment, all of the fights and the struggles and the euphoria and pain. Five centuries of wisdom reaped from the pleasures and pains of life.

And that’s what he had.

‘So.’

After taking a slurp of tea, he sunk in his chair. His shoulders were so bunched up they nearly touched his cheeks. Inuyasha kept his eyes averted and wrung his brain. What was it he’d planned on saying? It wasn’t as if they hadn’t texted one another before meeting up; though, that was more double checking to ensure one another was who they said they were. Either way, it counted.

Still, it didn’t seem Kouga had much more to say. His legs were spread wide with one ankle crossed over his knee, and his arms draped comfortably over the chair. Arrogant as ever, the hanyou thought. Not much had changed about the wolf, honestly. His face had squared out and his shoulders broadened, he’d appeared to have aged a few years. Half a decade, at the most. Inuyasha wondered if his own visage done the same.

“Well, you don’t like any different.”

That answered that. Kouga said it as a statement, but Inuyasha took it as he always had any other words from Kouga, as an insult. A retaliation was, of course, necessary.

“Too bad for you, you look the same too.”

Kouga snarled, a quick flash of his teeth. An expression humans could probably make, but that Inuyasha had only ever seen look proper on a demon’s face. “I didn’t say it was a bad thing, mu-“

Kouga’s words cut short, to Inuyasha’s surprise. The demon sitting across from him in the quiet café grumbled and readjusted himself. Momentarily, Inuyasha wondered where Kouga’s tail was hidden as he resat himself. It didn’t matter; he dismissed the thought.

“I’m not that interested in picking up where we left off.”

Inuyasha didn’t know what to do with that. He mirrored Kouga and readjusted, then cracked his wrists, and then his knuckles.

“…yeah, that’s fine.” It was unexpected, but fine. Inuyasha had figured they’d do a little verbal joust, if at least for show. Kouga didn’t seem interested in showmanship at that moment.

There was more silence, and they both slurped their tea this time.

“Well, this is damn weird. Never thought we’d be sitting across each other by choice.”

Inuyasha had to laugh at that; a dry thing, but technically a laugh. “Yeah, if somebody told either of us that, way back when…”

“Time does some funny stuff.”

Inuyasha stiffened, but nodded. “Yeah. Sure does.”

“Nearly hurts to say it considering it’s you, but I’m glad somebody else is around, whoever it is. I’ve still got Ginta and Hakkaku, and a couple of the guys from the pack. We’re just, uh, a little more spread out. It’s different. I don’t like it, but it’s better than the alternative.”

“Yeah, the alternative’s not so much fun.”

Inuyasha’s lips didn’t twitch, and he told himself his chest didn’t clench. Since the passing of his friends, it had been four centuries- four and a half, if he was being specific. It wasn’t as if these were fresh wounds. He was showing scars, they’d long since healed up. That’s what he told himself. And it wasn’t as if Kouga hadn’t lost anybody, either, he had to know the feeling.

“Yeah, not so much. Some of the pack’s had kids. Some are still around. How about yours?”

Kouga didn’t prod at Inuyasha’s silence, nor did he stiffen at it.

“What about… the other ones. What were they? The monk, and the slayer, right? They ever have any-?”

“Yeah.” He was quick to answer.

“I mean, they’ve still got living family, but they’re barely related at this point,” Inuyasha pointed out, shrugging. “It’s, what, eighteen or nineteen generations now?” It was nineteen. Inuyasha knew that without thinking twice. ”But I check in on ‘em, now and then.”

“Christ, _nineteen_? They’re like rabbits. Figures that’s how they took over.”

Inuyasha’s eyes flashed from his tea up to Kouga’s face, realizing only then that he hadn’t been looking at him.

“Relax, relax, you know I don’t have any bones to pick with humans. Haven’t eaten a single one ever since I made the promise I wouldn’t, either. Wolf’s honor.”

“Yeah, that means a lot.”

That’s what wolves did, wasn’t it? Wolves didn’t know honor, they knew food, and they knew a meal. If humans were rabbits, and Kouga was a wolf, what was to be expected? Still, when you were outnumbered a thousand rabbits to one wolf, and those rabbits learned your soft spots? You could have as many teeth as you wanted. You could shred through a good number of rabbits, sure, but one was bound to kick something that hurt eventually. And man, when those suckers knew where to kick? They kicked hard. Kouga knew that well enough.

There was more silence.

“How about you?” Kouga’s dark brows raised some.

“How about me what? Have I eaten a human?”

The half breed knew that wasn’t what Kouga mean. Talking about himself was never a strong suit of Inuyasha’s, though; it was easier to deflect.

“ _No_ , dumbass, how about you as in… what’ve you been up to? How’re you doing?”

“I used the computer at the local library to track down the guy who made it painfully clear he wanted to slip into bed with my dead wife, how d’you think?” The words weren’t as biting as one would have expected. It was more of an explanation or a declaration than an accusation.

Kouga was callous enough to laugh at that, but Inuyasha didn’t mind. He’d had enough of people tiptoeing. “Yeah, I guess that’s true. But I guess it’s not like I didn’t respond.”

“Yeah, about that- you’ve still got your pack around. What was up with that? I didn’t expect you to really… y’know, be interested.”

Kouga shrugged. “I told you, it’s different now. The pack’s spread out. Some have kids. That communal living shit we used to do… just doesn’t work like that anymore. We meet up… we’ve got a group chat.” The man raised a phone in his hand and snorted. “I hate these things, but I gotta admit, they’re kinda helpful. Leave it to humans to kill our cultures then invent the life support that keeps ‘em alive.”

Kouga shoved the thing back into his pocket and splayed himself back out in his chair, relaxed. “But it’s not the same. I guess I just… I’d like to find who I can.”

Inuyasha felt a little acid burn at the back of his throat, that Kouga had the gall to be lonely when he still had members of his pack around? He wasn’t honestly mad at him for that, it was an emotional reaction, not a logical one. Inuyasha knew that. Besides Ginta and Hakkaku, Kouga had mentioned it was only a couple other guys. While he had more left than Inuyasha, he had to have lost that much more, too. Inuyasha’s family had been few; Kagome, Sango, Miroku, Kilala, Shippo, and their descendants, but Kouga had a whole tribe he’d lost. He had some sympathy for that

“Speaking of finding company where you can- that fox demon, and your brother. How’re things with them? They make it?”

Kouga always did do a goddamn good job of dashing the sprouts of any soft feelings Inuyasha might have had for him the moment they breached topsoil.

“You’re really goddamn blunt in your old age, you know that? You could word things better, y’know.”

“You should be more worried about having somebody to talk to at all, shouldn’t you?”

Banter was one thing, but that froze the blood in Inuyasha’s veins.

“Screw this. This was a shitty idea, I’m leaving.”

Inuyasha didn’t bother with the last of his tea before he stood, his chair screeching back and his hands shoving into his sweatshirt pocket, delving into the red fabric that so reminded him of his former daily clothing. He’d caught the sight of Kouga’s pulling his hand down his face as he turned around.

A hand fell on Inuyasha’s shoulder before he’d made it halfway to the door, claws sharp on his skin even over the material of his clothing.

“Look, that was a low blow. I didn’t mean that. I’m sorry. I don’t really know how to do this either.”

Inuyasha hadn’t turned around yet, but he’d stopped. Kouga took that as a sign to keep going.

“I don’t know how to do this either, but I responded because I wanna try. I wouldn’t mind having another friend who… y’know. And I know we haven’t gotten along well, but its been a long time. There’s not that many of us left. I wasn’t trying to be coarse or nothin’, I just need some time to figure out how to do this too. Before you decide that this friend thing isn’t gonna work between us, at least lemme take you out for a couple beers. I’ll pay.”

Kouga told himself that he was doing this for the mutt. He said the guy looked the same, but it wasn’t entirely true. Physically, yeah, his cheeks were still round, and his jaw hadn’t squared the way Kouga’s had. Inuyasha had been just as stubborn as Kouga about his hair, it didn’t look an inch shorter than it had ever. Physically, he looked the same, and he even tried to snap his teeth the way he’d used to!

The hanyou slouched, though, and his gaze sunk to the floor like it was weighted. He didn’t look like he’d lost his fight, but he sure as hell looked like he was tired of fighting. Kouga remembered Inuyasha with the fire that they’d both carried in their bellies, and Kouga knew his own, while still lit, had settled to a small thing, a light that, though not so strong, was still constant.

Kouga could feel Inuyasha’s flicker, and maybe he just needed somebody to stoke his flames.

That’s what he told himself.

But maybe Kouga could use a little help keeping his flame burning, too.

“…yeah. A couple beers might make you more tolerable.”


End file.
